Food Forestry, otherwise known as agroforestry - is a food production and land management system inspired by natural woodland ecosystems, but substituting the trees, shrubs, and plants for those that have yields directly used by people.
The Working Plan for Our Food Forest
With rising food costs and food insecurity being a big concern on Vancouver Island, this project will allow us to grow a significant amount of healthy food to make available to our community!
Our food forest will be a wonderful demonstration of multiple permaculture principles, ethics, and practices. It shows ecological and regenerative farming and gardening techniques for working with Nature rather than against it. This project is one of the biggest food forests on Vancouver Island, being over ½ acre in size! It will be able to produce hundreds of pounds of food just in its first year—with the ability to reach up to 2,000–3,000+ pounds of food annually once it's established.
The food forest will be beautiful and densely planted—with guilds around each fruit tree filled with berries, herbs, flowers, nuts, and mushrooms. Plants of various heights and sizes will make the space more dynamic, healthy, and biodiverse. Hügelkultur beds and swales on contour across the space help slow down rainfall and let it sink back into the ground, replenishing aquifers and building soil in the process. This space will serve as a living classroom showcasing a healthy living soil food web and regenerative agriculture.
Our Vision
Pacific Composting is a small - but mighty - team of passionate individuals, united by a common purpose: to inspire people and communities to transform their wastes into resources that support soil health.
Long-term, we envision many thriving, food-secure Canadian communities that place a much greater emphasis on the establishment of a circular economy. Communities that can serve as a model for countless others here in Canada, and around the world.
Video
Phase 1:
Press
May 29, 2025 - Duncan Community Rallies Behind Innovative Food Forest Project Led by Airport Project Manager Turned Worm Farmer